Freemium

Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (offline) goods that expand the functionality of the free version of the software.[1][2] This business model has been used in the software industry since the 1980s. A subset of this model used by the video game industry is called free-to-play.

Many consider freemium generally as a ripoff and/or a scam and voice their concerns about the dangers of this model.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ JLM de la Iglesia, JEL Gayo, "Doing business by selling free services". Web 2.0: The Business Model, 2008. Springer
  2. ^ Tom Hayes, "Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business". 2008. Page 195.
  3. ^ Fulton, Will (2015-09-18). "Freemium game developer reveals the dirty truths behind in-app purchases". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2025-08-06.
  4. ^ https://geeksempire.co/articles/scam-of-freemium/
  5. ^ Smith, Dave (2014-11-22). "The 'Freemium' Model Is Brilliant, But It's Ruining My Life". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-08-06.
  6. ^ Zuo, Andrew (2024-05-12). "Freemium Is Toxic: Why Stratum Is Never Going Back To A Freemium Model". Medium. Retrieved 2025-08-06.
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